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Deadly Meningitis Ooutbreak

Deadly meningitis outbreak among gays worries officials

A deadly bacterial meningitis outbreak striking gay men in New York City is unlikely to abate any time soon, New York City health officials warn. The disease has sickened 22 and killed seven NYC men over the last two years.

After four cases of meningococcal disease among gay men were reported in Los Angeles county in recent months, there were concerns that the New York City outbreak had spread, but public health officials in Los Angeles and New York say the strains are not connected.

The New York City outbreak has been linked to parties, online websites or apps that men used to find other men for “close or intimate sexual contact,” according to health officials. But for more than half of the men sickened by meningitis, there was no evidence that the men had used any of these means to encounter other men, according to public health officials.